After suffering another off the rails night in Cleveland–this time courtesy of Ted Cruz–the Trump campaign will attempt to salvage a disaster of a convention on its final night. With the Trump campaign’s inept handling of the plagiarism scandal, one of Trump’s top advisers calling for the execution of Hillary Clinton, and another botched vice presidential roll-out, the Trump team and the RNC desperately need a massively positive performance from headliner Donald Trump tonight.
The final night of the convention features Trump’s formal acceptance of the Republican nomination for president. With the few party elites who deigned to show up having already spoken, Thursday’s speakers are largely political unknowns. As they seek the spotlight while clutching to Trump’s coattails, we can expect praise to be heaped upon Trump. This shouldn’t be a difficult task as so many of tonight’s speakers share a number of personal characteristics with the Republican nominee.
- Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn will be the first elected official speaking at Trump’s convention on Thursday. Blackburn is a safe pick–no Cruz-like shenanigans on the horizon–as she once claimed “We need Donald Trump.” Blackburn is a strong supporter of Trump’s blanket-ban on Muslim immigration, stating that, “You need to have this halt and make certain that we know who’s coming in, we know what their purposes are.”
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- Like, Trump, Blackburn is no stranger to campaign finance issues. (We’re still waiting on your tax returns, Donald.) Blackburn has a nasty habit of filing errors, receiving 33 letters from the Election Commission identifying 90 possible filing errors in her first three campaigns. Like Trump, Blackburn has also made politics a family affair, paying her son-in-law’s lobbying firm about a million dollars to lobby the federal government since 2004.
- On Monday we looked at how Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin’s anti-choice, anti-gay, and anti-Muslim record aligns with Trump’s. Aside from sharing similar policy positions, Fallin mirrors Trump’s proclivity for engaging in wild conspiracy theories. In an interview with Lou Dobbs–a Trump-level conspiracy theorist in his own right–Fallin suggested that President Obama “sent a signal” to migrant children coming to the country from Central America. It’s unclear if President Obama used semaphore flags, smoke signals, or a more sinister method to signal migrants, but what is clear is that Fallin shares Trump’s affinity for using outlandish conspiracy theories to scare and mislead the public.
- Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. has already compared Donald Trump to both Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr., so he may have some trouble topping that tonight. Trump’s relationship with Falwell took center stage when Trump invoked “Two Corinthians” in a speech at Falwell’s Liberty University. Despite Trump’s misstep, Falwell shares a plethora of views with Trump, including a deep-seated fear of Muslims. Falwell encouraged Liberty students to carry concealed weapons so, “we could end those Muslims before they walked in.”
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- Falwell also shares Trump’s view that women should be punished for terminating a pregnancy. In the Liberty University handbook from 2011, abortion is listed in the “sanctions” section in the same category as offenses such as sexual assault, felony convictions, and unauthorized use of a weapon.
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- Trump may have some issue with the faith-leader though; Falwell has described hand-holding as the “only appropriate form of personal contact” between courting students, a practice sure to disgust a germaphobe like Trump.
As Trump’s crumbling coronation draws to a merciful end, the blustery nominee is surrounding himself with faithful allies who share his anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-woman rhetoric. Throw in some campaign finance issues, outrageous conspiracy theories, and bizarre hero-worship of Trump and you have a night to remember at the RNC.
A full look at the Trumpiness of tonight’s speakers is available here
Published: Jul 21, 2016